Top 10 games of 2024

I’m telling you right now, if Aurora and Northwest get together to compete in anything, from sports to marching band to a staring contest, go. You won’t regret it. 
It’s not just the Huskies and Vikings, though. The area provided plenty of incredible and jaw-dropping moments in 2024. 
Here are your top 10 games from 2023:
1. Husky softball slays Northwest.
I may never forgive myself for not seeing this one live with my own eyes. 
Londyn Teahon hadn’t yet swung a softball bat the last time Aurora defeated Northwest on the diamond. The Aurora sophomore’s gigantic at-bat sank the Vikings’ perfect battleship.
For the first time since 2010, Aurora was victorious over Grand Island Northwest, snapping a 33-game win streak the rivals in black and gold carried over the Huskies with a 4-3 walk-off winner.
The win by Aurora spoiled Class B No. 1 Northwest’s perfect season to date with a monumental moon shot from its clean-up hitter.
Teahon flashed a huge grin when asked about the ball clearing the fence, her second homer of the season, noting how special it was to help the team accomplish one of its big goals.
“I was in shock because I had no idea what was going on,” Teahon said. “It was really overwhelming, but it was so exciting.”
2. HPC volleyball ends season in five-set thriller.
Just before a fifth and deciding set, High Plains had all the momentum it could ask for. 
A chance to take one step closer to a state tournament berth, the end result was a crushing blow for the Storm. 
Exeter-Milligan/Friend was successful through the fifth set to eliminate High Plains from state contention, winning 25-13, 17-25, 25-16, 19-25 and 15-8 Oct. 29 in the D1-5 subdistrict final. 
HPC entered the fourth set with its back against the wall, needing a win to force a fifth and deciding game. The seniors responded for HPC as Rylee Ackerson, Emma Brown and Courtney Carlstrom all scored early in the fourth to force a fifth and deciding set. 
“I loved the passion from our girls tonight,” High Plains coach Jenna Mattox said. “They love the game and it’s evident when they’re winning. I wish we could play like that when we’re struggling but this is such a fun group of girls.”
After an early run from EMF, HPC cut the lead to 9-8 in the fifth, but the Bobcats  finished the match on a 6-0 run to force an end to HPC’s season.
3. Huskies shock Northwest to win the hammer.
Aurora-Northwest, am I right?
The Aurora Huskies flipped the script and dropped the hammer after the first half, overcoming a 28-0 deficit with a dramatic 36-35 comeback win decided in the final seconds on a two-point conversion.
“We knew that we were going for two,” coach Kyle Peterson said of a two-point conversion play that won the game. “We actually talked about using that on the fourth down and goal play, but we really wanted to save it for the two-point conversion. They actually defended it pretty well. Booker made a great throw, but Asher (Prins) made a heck of a catch and then hung onto it all the way to the ground to finish it.”
Aurora players and students rushed onto the field after the game, with Scheierman grabbing “The Hammer” from the end zone and hoisting it overhead in an emotional celebration which continued into the team’s post-game huddle.
4. Storm hangs on for home playoff win.
For three quarters, High Plains and Lawrence-Nelson played a defensive slobberknocker with 12 combined points. 
An offensive explosion broke out in the fourth quarter before one final defensive stand won the game for the Storm.
HPC’s defense held firm on Lawrence-Nelson’s potential game-winning drive as the Storm won its first playoff game since 2015, 22-20, in a season rematch against the Raiders in Clarks. 
The plan for HPC was to work the clock and score on the ground, but a bad snap on third down led to a fumble recovered by the Raiders at its own 37-yard line. Lawrence-Nelson had 43 yards to go and 2:32 to get the potential game-winning score.
Instead, the Storm defense stood tall as the Raiders lost 12 yards before an incomplete pass on 4th and 22 went by the wayside and High Plains secured an elusive playoff victory.
5. Huskies outlast Dukes in postseason shootout.
With each stop, Rylan Bartek’s job became more important. With the season on the line, the guy wearing the only green Aurora jersey in the closet made the difference.
The Aurora junior goalkeeper made two stops that were the difference in the Huskies’ 4-3 shootout win over York in the B-7 subdistrict opener played in Aurora. 
After 100 minutes of soccer, the Huskies and Dukes were both scoreless, forcing a shootout, the second time in five days the two rival schools played in a game that went to penalty kicks.
Bartek came up with the first stop on York’s third penalty kick, a vertical stop pushing the ball up and over right before Bartek himself was to take a penalty shot. Bartek came up with his second straight rejection, this time a diving save to his left.
Thomas Brandl stepped up and found the net for Aurora, giving the Huskies a key 3-2 lead through four rounds, with just one left.
York was successful on the fifth try, putting all the pressure on Canon Allen to either end the game with a make or extend it with a miss.
The sophomore forward calmly approached the ball and sent a low liner to the net, giving the Huskies its eighth win of the season.
6. Fourth quarter rally nets Aurora win.
For the first time since 2017, the Aurora girls basketball team started the season 1-0 and slayed Adams Central.
With a fourth-quarter scoring frenzy, the Lady Huskies rallied past the Patriots on the road, 36-31 in the season opener, Aurora’s first win over Adams Central in nine tries.
Through three quarters, Aurora’s offense was held in check with just 17 points, trailing by four. The Lady Huskies exploded with 19 fourth-quarter points and a huge road victory.
It all started with what ended up being a 15-1 run from Aurora that began just before the third quarter ended on a Kendal Wineteer second chance opportunity.
Kenna Merrihew made a single foul shot before a made jumper from AC made it a one-possession game, 31-28 with 22 seconds left.
The Patriots were forced to send Adi Fahrnbruch to the line as the Husky senior calmly made both, leading 33-28 and 20 seconds left.
Another Patriot turnover was followed up with foul shots from Wineteer and Kaitlyn Staehr as Aurora held on for victory.
7. HPC falls short in another playoff thriller.
Nine High Plains seniors slowly walked off the gridiron one final time through a double file line of teammates after a gutty team effort.
The emotion was palpable after HPC fell a couple plays short in Overton Friday, falling 32-20 in the second round of the D2 playoffs, ending its season with a 7-3 record.
High Plains was eventually met with its own fourth down play and a chance to tie as Gage Friesen was denied on a 4th and 4 at midfield and five minutes to go.
Overton successfully chewed the clock, converted two first downs before a final insurance touchdown from the home team to help the Eagles advance to the quarterfinals.
“We were right there,” Wood said. “We had opportunities to do it and just didn’t capitalize on it.”
8. HPC bests Shelby-RC for the first time.
Down six in the fourth quarter, Peyton Hofmann wanted the ball. 
The Storm sophomore scored eight of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to flip the script and deliver a 32-30 win over Shelby-Rising City in the CRC quarterfinals Monday from the York City Auditorium.
The celebration for the Storm girls lasted well beyond the final whistle as first-year coach Megan Bruce spoke with pride about her group following the win.
“We never played down. We kept the aggression up and didn’t back down from anything,” Bruce said. “We knew how to finish that fourth quarter and that’s exactly what they did.”
For HPC, it was the team’s first win since S-RC consolidated in 2011-12. High Plains defeated Rising City 52-36 on Valentine’s Day in 2009.
9. Aurora nets coach Asher’s 500th win.
Aurora coach Kevin Asher was stuck on 499 wins for nearly nine months after the Huskies were bounced from postseason play last February. 
Husky senior Parker Smith made sure his coach didn’t have to wait a single day into the new 2024-25 campaign.
Smith buried a pair of impactful three-pointers as Aurora picked up a win over rival Adams Central on the road, 49-43, and collected coach Asher’s 500th career win.
After Adams Central made it a three-point game once more, Smith nailed his second triple of the quarter with 1:58 left, quieting the home crowd up 47-41 before an Allen shot on the next possession made it 49-41.
Despite an Aurora turnover late, Adams Central couldn’t capitalize offensively as the Huskies beat the Patriots for the first time since 2021.
10. Hampton wins rivalry battle with Giltner.
Hampton senior Nevaeh Lukassen played through pain in her final home game as a Lady Hawk and her teammates helped her go out in style with a gutsy 53-47 win over cross-country rival Giltner.
Having dislocated her finger the night before in a close loss to Riverside, Lukassen was determined to play in the rivalry game, taping up her finger and contributing 15 points in a game decided by Hampton’s 16-point fourth-quarter surge. 
It was anybody’s ballgame as the final frame began, when Hampton started to seize the moment, and the momentum. Gilmore drilled two 3-pointers in the quarter and Macy Miller added another to pull ahead by eight with five minutes to play. LaBrie called for a full-court press down the stretch and though Giltner was able to cut the lead to 52-47 with a minute to go on Reeson’s 3-pointer, it was too little, too late.
We didn’t have any state champions from the 2024 calendar year, but we must recognize the once-in-my-lifetime NBA first round draft selection of Aurora’s own Baylor Scheierman to the Boston Celtics.
Baylor has been suiting up in Boston as well as its G-League affiliate, Maine, and playing well with those opportunities. His NBA moment will come before we all know it. 
Here’s to another solid list of thrillers to come in 2025. See everyone on the sidelines -- backwards hat and all.  
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.